It's strange really when you think about it, I've lived this long (even on a farm) and up until last week I knew absolutely nothing about beavers except that they eat wood and make dams (and I only knew that because one time they made a dam in the culvert in the road and my dad and I would go visit it).. but over the last few weeks we have been taught a lesson in persistence by none other than the beaver family of 052...Just to give you a starting point... (in case you know as much about beavers as I do..)
The beaver (genus Castor) is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Beavers are known for building dams, canals, gullys, log cabins, and lodges (homes). They are the second-largest rodent in the world (after the capybara). Their colonies create one or more dams to provide still, deep water to protect against predators, and to float food and building material.
Ok - now that YOU TOO are a beaver expert.... this is the story....
Earlier this summer we were back visiting the pond one fine weekend and we noticed this giant hole in the bank... of course this spurred a serious discussion about what type of creature would be living in this hole... the final determination was it must be a beaver family (how cute we love beavers) - except we all thought they lived in lodges - not holes..
A few weeks later it was confirmed.. Big Lare (dad) saw a beaver baby go into the hole and all was good and right with the world...
Little did we know that was just the beginning... these cute and cuddly little beavers are not exactly the best "pet" on the farm... and as we went about our business for the next few weeks so did the '052 Beaver Family (whose middle name is persistence)...
They decided that LaKnoll was a nice place to set up camp which probably would have been ok had they remind in the pond, but they took up lodging in the creek (some might call it a crick). It just so happens there is a place along the creek where the gas pipeline runs through and there is a tube (culvert) similar to what you would see in the road to allow the creek to run through. Slightly up-stream from this tube the beavers decided to build a dam...Not a major deal until the tube almost filled up and flooded the surrounding fields...
But no problem, Bill went back one day to cut out the dam with a chainsaw (see pics below) to solve this small problem.
Once again we thought all was good and right with the world until the VERY NEXT DAY - the dam was back and the water level was back up at the top of the tube (052 beavers are laughing at us - actually they were laughing at Bill)...
Since desperate times call for desperate measures we determined trapping the beaver was the next best option (scary looking device pictured below) so Bill cut a V in the dam, placed the trap there so when the beavers when to rebuild the dam they would be TRAPPED (sorry Beavers but you leave us no choice....)
The very NEXT day we go to retrieve said beaver only to find the 052 Beaver family is a little more wily than we had predicted - they built their dam on top of the trap!! I kid you not this is no joke - the Beavers are really laughing right in our face now...So, we are mad... it was off to You Tube for a lesson in Beaver Trapping (you think I"m joking but I am NOT).....
Armed with our "You Tube" Masters Degree in Beaver Trapping 101, a handy dandy permit from our friends at the DNR and sheer determination to win, we dressed up in our waders and brought our snares, traps, wire, sticks, mauls and other miscellaneous trapping materials and declared WAR on the Beaver Family of '052...
After a long day of plotting, scouting, strategizing and a little sweat, we celebrated victory as we sat back and discussed who would have the most beavers in their traps the next day... 12 snares, one trap, a partridge and a pear tree (yes it was a competition between Bill, Trevor and Traci)... the night was long and everyone was up early the next morning awaiting the RESULTS... which were:
Beavers Family : WinnersBill, Trevor and Traci : Loosers
(the beavers also found the time to post a little note to us...)
IMPORTANT NOTE:
No beavers were harmed in the making of this blog... tune in later this week for the rest of the story
